NAW Billion Dollar Operations Roundtable, Spring 2018

May 15-16, 2018 at the Hilton O’Hare in Chicago

“NAW enables a free-flow of ideas and answers to Questions for Operations executives from large companies and different industries. The Roundtable is a “great-value-add” since it allows you to discuss tactical issues with counterparts facing the same challenges.”

Submitted Anonymously by the Senior Vice President of Operations of a $7 Billion Dollar Distribution Company

The NAW Billion Dollar Company Operations Roundtable for direct members was created as a new mechanism for the Operations Executives of large distribution enterprises to network with non-competing peers in multiple lines of trade on key operations issues.

Similar to other billion dollar roundtables NAW has created for the CIO, CFO, Chief Legal Officer, and CHRO, this by invitation roundtable is composed of executives from billion dollar companies that meet in Chicago two times per year. This highly interactive group consists of the SENIOR-MOST operations executives. The annual fee is $1,800 per member, which covers meeting costs for two events in a twelve month cycle. Participants are expected to cover the cost of their hotel and travel. Once the annual fee is paid, there are no additional fees to attend the meetings, which will last one day beginning with a reception and dinner the evening before.

The participating companies can also name an alternate who can take the place of the Operations Executive, should that person be unable to attend the scheduled meeting.

If you would like to learn more please contact Tara Mostatab at 202.263.4080 or tmostatab@naw.org.

Eligibility: Companies with $1B+ in annual revenue.
The NAW Billion Dollar Roundtable is the only opportunity that provides networking and benchmarking exclusively with other top executives of non competing, like-sized Wholesale-Distribution companies.

For over 20 years, Jade West was a staple in the U.S. Senate. For the past 10 years, Jade has helped educate lawmakers on how certain legislative policies could impact true economic engines such as wholesaler-distributors. From stopping the repeal of LIFO, to tax and labor initiatives, Jade has been out front and leading the charge on Capitol Hill to benefit the entire $5.7 trillion industry that is wholesale distribution.

Make sure to attend the most exclusive executive supper club in Chicago this evening! This dinner is your opportunity to pick the brains of the senior executives for the top wholesale distribution companies in the industry. This is a joint dinner that will include the CLO, CHRO and Operations executives attending the spring Roundtable.

Jade West is Senior Vice President-Government Relations for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. She also serves as Executive Director of the NAW Political Action Committee. Jade is the senior lobbyist for NAW, advocating the interests of the wholesale distribution industry in Washington both on Capitol Hill and in the regulatory agencies.

In addition, she is Executive Secretariat for the 1,000-member Tax Relief Coalition and the LIFO Coalition. Jade is a Steering Committee member of the Alliance for Tax Fairness and Growth, and she is on the Management Committee of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, which leads the opposition to organized labor’s effort to remove secret ballot elections from union certification elections and force employers into binding “interest arbitration” in negotiating contracts. Jade is also a Director of the Business Industry Political Action Committee and a Founder and Director of the trade association Get Out the Vote Best Practices Group, both working to maximize the turnout of pro-business voters in federal elections.

Before joining NAW in 2002, Jade was a senior aide on Capitol Hill for more than 20 years.

The “War for Talent” is something which is now being experienced by all organizations. From the highest levels within organizations to the front-line employees in our warehouses, few are immune to the challenges faced to effectively attract, develop and retain talent. Given this landscape it is critical that employers understand their employer brand, candidate attraction strategy, candidates’ fit with your culture and values, and steps you can take to engage and retain warehouse employees.

This session will explain the impact employer brand and candidate attraction, engagement and retention have on your business, as well as best practices for executing these initiatives.

Takeaways:

Learn what makes up a company’s employer brand, and how it can be influenced through recruitment

Understand the details of a “Sourcing Strategy” and the most effective method to attract talent

Review how AI and machine learning are impacting the talent pipeline

Understand the link between culture and employee values

Learn how to apply employee engagement practices to increase retention

Dustin Ogden is a Principal in Korn Ferry’s Miami office, where he leads the firm’s efforts in Distribution in North America while serving as a member of the Global Industrial Services & Distribution Practice within the Global Industrial Market.

Mr. Ogden is responsible for providing talent-advisory services in distribution across all industrial and specialty subsectors spanning various business models, including route-based, branch- based, catalog and direct marketing. Mr. Ogden works closely with associations, private equity firms, infrastructure funds, as well as investment banking and academic communities as a key market influencer.

Mr. Ogden brings considerable talent acquisition, retention, and succession experience to Korn Ferry, having recently served at another global executive search firm in the same areas of practice. Additionally, Mr. Ogden specializes in the recruitment of senior supply chain leaders across the spectrum of procurement, sourcing, logistics, and distribution.

His legal background includes trial advocacy on behalf of clients in the greater Atlanta area. Mr. Ogden is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the State Bar of Florida. Additionally, he is a member of the Association of Executive Search Consultants and the Council for Supply Chain Management Professionals.

Mr. Ogden received a master’s degree in business administration from the Scheller College of Business at Georgia Institute of Technology where he continues to serve as an ambassador. Mr. Ogden also holds a juris doctor from the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida. He also earned a bachelor of arts from the College of Charleston.

Chris Streit has provided consultation on talent acquisition and development, recruiting and technology and cost reduction. His unique consultation experience in Talent and Corporate Tax allows Mr. Streit to approach client solutions with a heavy focus on ROI while maximizing the impact of the Talent Acquisition function within organizations.

Mr. Streit was instrumental in launching and growing the Korn Ferry Talent Academy across the global Talent Delivery Center network and with select Marquee Accounts. This curriculum and delivery methodology have become the standard in onboarding and professional development in the Talent Management industry.

Mr. Streit has partnered with multiple organizations on executing enterprise-wide hiring initiatives for the Life Sciences, Industrial and Technology industries. His understanding and knowledge of the recruitment technology (Sourcing, CRM, Applicant Tracking Systems etc.) landscape allows Mr. Streit to provide clients solutions to the recruiting challenges of tomorrow.

Mr. Streit has his Bachelors of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington and his Masters of Business Administration with a major in Finance from the University of North Texas.

Joanne Stroud is a Senior Partner in the Strategy Execution and Organization Design Practice for Korn Ferry Hay Group, based in the Chicago office.

Ms. Stroud is a trusted advisor and coach to CEOs and senior executive teams aiming to achieve and sustain profitable business results. She is a thought leader and innovative solution designer in the human capital component of strategy, creating high-performance leaders, talent, and cultures. Her depth of expertise is balanced with a strong business perspective gained from many years in executive roles.

Prior to joining Korn Ferry, Ms. Stroud was an assistant professor in the college of business at Northeastern Illinois University. She spent 20 years in global consulting organizations including the Hay Group before starting her own firm.

In her private practice, she served as the interim Chief Human Resources Officer at a Fortune 500 REIT. As a leader, she developed business, raised profitability, and developed talent in her region. Working with national, multi-national and global companies, Ms. Stroud specializes in matching talent solutions to the context and business drivers of her client organizations.

Ms. Stroud holds an adjunct faculty position in the MBA program at DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. She has received professional certifications in leadership coaching, success profiling, change management, and numerous assessment solutions. She is a master trainer in interviewing and coaching, and has developed and implemented these globally.

Ms. Stroud earned her master’s and doctorate degrees at the Illinois Institute of Technology in industrial and organizational psychology. She received bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sociology at Western Illinois University.

Did you know that your customers’ Buyer Journey has changed radically in the last five years, but your sales force roles, structures, processes, and cost-to-serve have not? The typical buyer today – an increasing percentage of whom are Millenials – has already independently completed 70% of the purchase process before they even engage with a seller. The old distribution sales paradigm was built to engage at the 20% point, with a heavy cost structure and skill set that is quickly being rendered obsolete by Amazon and large wholesalers imitating its model.

SPA CEO David Bauders and Vendor Neutral Co-founders Nancy Nardin and Dan Cilley will describe both the nature and magnitude of the required sales transformation, as well as playbooks for success. In simple terms, your sales team will need to transform to have different conversations with different buyers. Your sales force must transform to adopt new sales technologies, seller roles and skills.

Tasks currently performed by people must be automated. The mix of Outside versus Inside Sales must change and transition to an In-Out Hybrid. To provide defensible, differentiated customer value that can be monetized, sales teams will need to be up-skilled to add and capture customer value. New training paradigms and platforms will be critical to ensure the transformation succeeds. Sales Force Restructuring, Right-Sizing & Up-Skilling will be the core elements of the transformation.

The new era will present growth opportunities for those distributors who quickly transform technical and human-capital resources to exploit the new reality. For those who fail to act – that is, to transform – the future will be less kind. The clock is ticking.

David Bauders founded SPA, Inc. in 1993 to help companies of all sizes improve increase profitability through improved pricing strategy, analytics and training. As President and CEO, he has worked with over 200 manufacturing businesses and over 400 distribution businesses over the last 25 years to improve their financial performance through pricing analytics, process tools, and sales force training.

SPA serves a broad cross section of industries including industrial, electrical, plumbing/hvac, chemical, building products, medical, scientific, software, consumer products, and technology products; and works with companies from both the manufacturing and distribution channels. SPA and Epicor (www.epicor.com), a leading technology provider for the distribution industry, formed a strategic partnership in 2008, making SPA’s pricing analytics available to Epicor’s leading software platforms and their distributor customers. SPA serves clients on a broad array of additional ERP platforms, including Infor’s SxE and A+; SAP; and Oracle.

Mr. Bauders is a recognized leader in field of strategic pricing and delivers seminars worldwide on a variety of pricing-related topics, in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Mr. Bauders and SPA have been featured in a variety of publications including The Wall Street Journal, IMARK NOW Magazine, Industrial Supply Magazine, Inside Business Magazine, Modern Distribution Management, and many industry publications.

Prior to founding SPA, Mr. Bauders worked for Booz & Co as a management consultant responsible for pricing and marketing strategy. He also worked as a line pricing manager for IBM Credit Corporation, with revenues (in 1990) of over $10 billion.
Mr. Bauders earned a BA from Oberlin College in Economics and Government and an MBA in Corporate Strategy and Finance from the University of Michigan. He has served as a teaching assistant in price theory for both institutions and is a member of Mensa, Ltd. He is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian.

Dan Cilley is the Co-Founder of Vendor Neutral, LLC, a Founding member and chapter president of the Sales Enablement Society, Leader of the Sales Enablement Definition Committee and the President of American Association of Inside Sales Professionals (AA-ISP South Florida Chapter). Dan strives to deliver more than just systems knowledge and expertise. He understands how to maximize today’s sales enablement tools to improve customer engagement without unnecessary disruption. He helps organizations leverage modern sales technologies, automation tools and skills training to drive profitable growth and return on investment.

Nancy Nardin is an award-winning industry thought-leader on SalesTech. Her sales career began in Silicon Valley selling the world’s first laptop computer which gave rise to the first Sales Apps like CRM. She has provided sales leadership to premier analyst firms such as Gartner Group and IDC and worked with several of Silicon Valley’s top venture capital firms during the Telecom build-out of the 1990’s. In 2009, she launched her own firm, Smart Selling Tools, and her reputation and recognition has only grown since – culminating in being named in Forbes Top 30 Sales influencers in the World.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Open Discussion

This session is set aside for you to raise any issue you would like and have the group provide their thoughts. This is an open forum to further discuss any item on the agenda or to bring up topics that are not on the agenda. Make sure to take notes during this session, you may find a perfect topic to suggest for the next NAW Roundtable.

12:00 PM – 12:45 PM
Joint Networking Lunch with CLO and CHRO

This is the “halftime” period where you meet up with all of the Billion Dollar Company senior executives at this week’s Roundtable to compare ideas and benchmark across disciplines. All 3 groups: Operations, CHRO and CLO executives will attend this joint lunch.

Successful technology implementations have a solid “pass completion percentage” if you compare it to the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but businesses cannot afford a success rate of only 65%. An ERP or other major technology implementation that fails to deliver measurable value to the organization is sadly more the norm than an anomaly. We will discuss ways in which you can significantly increase your technology project success.

In this interactive session, we will explore how to create the foundation for a successful implementation. Whether you are embarking on a search for a new ERP system, are in the throes of a Business Intelligence implementation or are considering other technological improvements to your organization – defining and tracking key project metrics and cross-department user adoption is critical to success of the endeavor. Some of the questions we will explore are:

What are the quantitative metrics that can be applied to measure ROI of an ERP system or other significant technology projects?

What does the implementation team need to look like to positively impact change and increase the derived value of new technology?

What does management need to do to encourage and support user adoption resulting in critical organizational change?

David Panitch has helped distributors, manufacturers and associations in his roles as president, vice-president, director, and as a consultant in the following areas:

Strategy Development & Execution

Business Continuity Planning

Technology Assessments

Software Evaluations and Selections

Software Implementation Project Management

CIO Mentoring

Prior to founding Results Technology Group, he invested over twenty years working within the distribution sector in the role of General Manager, VP of Sales, and President of regional and national distribution organizations.

Mr. Panitch earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, majoring in marketing from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. He is a past member of the Alumni Board of the University of Miami, the immediate Past-President of the University of Miami Chicago Alumni Club, past President of the Lincolnshire-Prairie View Board of Education, past Vice President of Marketing for Temple Chai, and a Director of the ACA Chicago.

He volunteers at various organizations including:

Feed My Starving Children

Center For Enriched Living

PADS of Lake County

He has been a coach for youth soccer, basketball, and baseball. He enjoys reading, cycling, travel, golf, and precious time with his wife and their two boys.

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Set Agenda for Next Meeting Scheduled for November 27-28, 2018